Cabansag, Romela F.

BSA

“DID RIZAL RETRACT?”

I. Introduction

Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado Alonzo y Realonda is our national hero. Before he
died, he spent his last 4 years in Dapitan. During this time, Andres Bonifacio sent Dr. Pio
Valenzuela to Dapitan because he wanted to know the perspective of Rizal regarding the
revolution. While in Dapitan, Rizal realized that we cannot change the Philippines

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through political aspects only but there are many other things in society that we can

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change. In August 1896, he returned to Manila because he is planning to go to Cuba to

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give services as a doctor. When he is already in Manila Bay, the revolution has begun

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unexpectedly making the Spaniards think that it is not a coincidence so he was sent to
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imprisonment in Fort Santiago. Before he was killed, did Rizal really retract his words?
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II. Body

Many opinions and evidence were presented by various people whether Rizal did
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or did not retract before his death. Sometimes the skillful use of forgery can redirect the
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flow of history itself. (Uckung, 2012). Rizal didn’t retract his words but people are using
forgery for their own sake. One of the witnesses has the document stating that before he
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faced death, Rizal told his sister to look inside his shoes because he left a letter.
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According to Fernandez, one of the two witnesses, the letter could only be a denial of his
retraction because Rizal knew the friars were misleading Filipinos and he wanted to set
the record straight. (Nacion, 2015). If the retraction is true, then why does the document
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of retraction itself be kept secret? The only copies of it were furnished to newspapers but
nobody saw the original. Another thing is that, when the family of Rizal asked for the
original copy, they said that it was lost. There were even no masses held by Catholics for
his soul. Thirty-nine years later, the original copy was found and was examined by

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 Ricardo Pascual. He confirmed that the documents presented were forgery indeed.
Another evidence that Rizal did not retract is when they said that he married Josephine
but according to research, there were no marriage certificates or public record shown that
could prove the statements. Rizal would not just neglect all the writing he conceived with
his hard work who brought him to the point of being executed. (Fibboys, 2012).

III. Conclusion

If it is true that Rizal was extracted then he would not have been executed. He is a
man with his own words because he matured through years because of his experiences.

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No matter the argument, he is still relevant and the arguments didn’t detract his greatness

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as a Filipino. He loves his own country and he did so much for his beloved country. He

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published works that have an objective to establish cooperation, let citizens to come

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together as one nation, etc. He leaves a burning passion that could help especially the
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youth. He sacrificed his life for the sake of many people. Rizal awakened our knowledge
for nationalism. This issue will not invalidate his works because he will be remembered
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forever.
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IV. References
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Fibboys. (2012, April 8). Did Jose Rizal Retract? Retrieved from Wanderland:
https://puchikamalucho.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/did-jose-rizal-retract/#:~:text=No
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%2C%20Rizal%20did%20not%20retract,justification%20to%20end%20the%20debate.
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Nacion, N. (2015, may 13). Ways to Prove that Rizal did not retract. Retrieved from prezi:
https://prezi.com/zuchf8t_mfjj/ways-to-proving-that-rizal-did-not-retract/
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Uckung, P. J. (2012, september 19). THE RIZAL RETRACTION AND OTHER CASES. Retrieved
from GOVPH: https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-rizal-retraction-and-other-cases/

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